Dear JimBob,
I’m struggling as a Christian with how to deal with injustices like child abuse. I find myself getting angrier and angrier about situations that just shouldn’t be. Is it wrong for Christians to be angry? Does God understand? I find myself hating those who abuse others, especially children. What should I do?
Tired of it
Dear Tired,
The abbreviated answers to two of your questions are, “No,” and “Yes,” in that order. No, it is not wrong for Christians to be angry, and Yes, God definitely understands. The Bible is full of stories of God getting angry at injustice and disobedience. Matthew 21 tells the story of an angry Jesus driving the thieves out of the temple. God created the capacity for anger. He certainly doesn’t want us to hamstring one of the great driving forces in our lives. What I suspect God wants is for us to surrender that anger and channel it for His purposes.
MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) is a great example of channeled anger. Candy Lightner’s 13 year old daughter was killed by a drunk driver. Mrs. Lightner and one other friend were so enraged at not only the senseless death of this young girl, but the complete disregard on the part of the judicial system for the crime that they stormed the highways and byways of California
Anger is not a sin. God created us to get fired up about injustices so that we might be driven to do something about those injustices. Don’t squelch your anger, fan it into flames that will move you to make a difference. Stay angry about child abuse, then do something. Maybe the Spirit is calling you to start doing something in the schools to not only help those who have experienced abuse, but change the home situations where it occurs.
Hatred toward others—whether it be drunk drivers or child abusers—is more of a slippery pig to get “ahold of.” Though the Bible (specifically the Psalms) talks about hating persons, it’s important to remember that many of the Psalms are not intended to be a guide for moral behavior, but rather an example of the fact that we can bring all of our emotions to God. God understands. However, God understanding and God condoning hatred are two different things. The Bible is pretty clear that though God hates disobedience and evil, He does not hate persons.
When it comes to people whom I have “unkind feelings toward” (that’s a pastoral way of saying “hate’), I’ve found that when I invite the Spirit into the picture, two healthy and productive things happen: 1) More and more I’m enabled to see the other person through God’s revealing eyes. We really can't start fixing child abuse until we understand the abuser. People don't have problems because they're child abusers; they're child abusers because they have problems. Condemning others rarely makes any headway toward rectifying unhealthy situations. But there's a difference between accepting and understanding. I'm talking about the later.
The second refers specifically to “unkind feelings” I have toward those who have wronged me personally: 2) God heals my broken and hurting heart. This is important, especially in light of how Christians are supposed to deal with injustice and anger. It’s always easier to make a more Spirit-inspired decision and react with a God-directed response when the decision process is not clouded by the cancer of bitterness and resentment in our own hearts.
This world is never an easy place to live and it may very well be that God is whispering into your ear and calling you to be a part of His making it at least a little better.
Jim
